


Flower Talk

by SunMoonAndSpoon



Category: Free!
Genre: AU where Haru is Rei's brother, Alternate Universe - Future, Established Relationship, M/M, Makoto being a gigantic dork, Marriage Proposal, Rei being a gigantic dork, financial anxiety, goopy romance, remember kids a butterfly might be beautiful but it also spends a lot of time crashing into things
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-06
Updated: 2014-11-06
Packaged: 2018-02-24 07:29:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2573231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SunMoonAndSpoon/pseuds/SunMoonAndSpoon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On a rainy day, Makoto receives a series of increasingly unsubtle texts while trying to deliver his boyfriend Rei's forgotten coat. He tries to piece together what the messages mean, and ends at a restaurant, where Rei has something to tell him using the language of flowers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Flower Talk

**Author's Note:**

  * For [patriciaselina](https://archiveofourown.org/users/patriciaselina/gifts).



> Happy Makoto's birthday and generic holiday season to patriciaselina!
> 
> This is their request: _Future fic, fluff, a day in the life of busy cute MakoRei boyfriends who share an apartment. Bonus points if Rei was/is an accounting major, and even more bonus points if instead of being Mako's childhood friend, Haru is actually Rei's protective elder brother (who approves of them in his own embarrassing way)._
> 
> Patriciaselina, I hope this meets your expectations, and that you enjoy the story. Same for anybody else who happens to cast their eyes over my work. Comments are greatly appreciated.

_UnderwaterNinja: I hope you didn't keep Rei up all night last night._

 

Makoto stares at the message, mouth slightly agape. It's from Haru, his boyfriend's older brother, and there are several things wrong with it. First of all, _again?_ How does he know that it's happened before? He wasn't in their apartment last night, did Rei tell him? Why would Rei tell his brother that he was up all night having sex? Makoto can't imagine sharing such a thing with his siblings, but then again his siblings are much younger than Rei's brother is, so maybe that isn't a fair comparison.

 

Still, it's _strange,_ isn't it? The other thing wrong is that Haru has a problem in the first place. It's not _wrong_ to care how much sleep one's younger sibling gets—Makoto is an older brother himself, he understands that—but Rei doesn't live with Haru, this is clearly a reference to sex, and Makoto is just so overwhelmed and confused by the message that he has to put his phone away and sit down.

 

His phone buzzes on the coffee table, with another message from Haru.

 

_UnderwaterNinja: I'm meeting him later and he needs to be awake._

 

_UnderwaterNinja: He makes bad decisions when he's sleepy._

 

What decisions is Rei going to have to make? Makoto types a quick _no problem,_ too embarrassed to push the issue further. He and Rei were indeed up all last night, not _entirely_ absorbed by sex, but definitely spending a good several hours on it. His mind storms with images of Rei's fingers stretching open his...Rei's tongue dipping into his...his face is bright bright red and now he's hiding his face in his hands. He sighs, heads to the kitchen sink and slaps the embarrassment from his cheeks with cold water.  
  
“Are you alright?” asks Rei, who is standing at the stove mixing miso paste into boiling water.

 

“Uhh...y-yeah, I'm fine!!” And he is. Despite his bluster the heat has already drained from his cheeks, and his slamming heart is slowing down. Now, actually looking at the person who he stayed up all night with, he feels calm. He kisses Rei on the ear and asks him what he's making.  


“Nothing special, just some miso soup and rice. Miso is an anti-oxidant powerhouse, did you know that?” He gives the soup a vigorous stir, and adds six wobbly cubes of tofu. “I was just reading about it online and I realized it's been ages since I've actually had any. Which is weird, because my parents used to make it all the time. Other than mackerel it's about the only thing my brother eats. Do you like miso? If you don't I can easily can make you something else.”

 

“Miso's fine, thank you sweetheart.” Now Rei's the one who's blushing. Neither of them make a habit of using pet names. When Makoto tries, the words feel awkward in his mouth, like a hard candy too big to turn with his tongue. Like the candy, though, the name tastes good. “I love you,” he says.

 

“I love you too!” says Rei. “Actually, I've written a poem about _exactly_ how much I love you. There are some math equations in it, which may not make sense until you read the annotations, but I did my best to write something beautiful!” He laughs, adjusts his glasses. “It ended rather poorly. I'm no poet. And I don't think I'm equal to the task of expressing my feelings...”

 

“Last night was expressive enough...” And there's the blush again—why did he bring that up?? Now he's remembering Haru's strange admonition again. Does Haru think they always stay up all night long? Maybe he's just over thinking this because he's tired himself. He smiles at Rei, laughs nervously and steels himself to focus on the conversation. “What's on deck for you today?” he asks.

 

Chopped scallions get added to the soup, and its ladled into two small bowls. Makoto gets up and serves the rice, and the two of them sit down to breakfast. “Did you want tea?” asks Rei. Makoto shakes his head and says that he'll probably grab coffee on the way to class. Then he changes his mind, realizing that he probably shouldn't be spending his savings on coffee anymore. It was easy to drop money on small luxuries when he was working, but ever since the daycare where he taught 2-year-olds to swim shut down due to unpaid rent, he hasn't been making any money at all.

 

Rei makes him tea without comment, then slides it in under his nose. “So, you have class today,” he says. “That's what I'm doing too. Well, that and work.”

 

“I'm hoping we can meet up sometime during all that hecticness?” Makoto asks after chopsticking a clump of rice into his mouth. Deciding the ignore the job thing for now.

  
“I don't think I can manage that...today's a very busy day. I'm hoping that we can meet for dinner, though? Actually I insist on it, because I made us reservations.” Rei nods, arms folded. “I should have brought this up earlier—you might have plans tonight, I'm dreadfully sorry if you do.”

 

“No, no plans...I thought that you were seeing Haru?” Rei freezes, and drops his bowl of rice. A few grains spill onto the table, and he yelps, rushing to scoop them back into the bowl. Makoto puts a hand on his shoulder and bids him to relax. “What's wrong? Was I not supposed to know?”

 

 

“N-no, no, it's not that, I just, uhhh...got a cramp in my hand, that's all.” He massages his hand in sweeping, exaggerated motions. “Yes, I'm meeting Haru during the day. That's part of what I'm going to be busy with. Um...” Sweat is streaking down Rei's neck, making it very clear that there's some kind of secret. He's always been terrible at lying. Makoto sighs, and doesn't press the issue. There's nothing wrong with Rei doing something private with his brother. Dating Rei does not give him claim on every facet of his life. Still, Haru's cryptic message and Rei's fluttering embarrassment makes Makoto suspicious. Haru said something about a decision...Makoto shakes his head. He's not going to worry about anything right now.

 

He leans over the table to kiss Rei on the cheek. Rei hunches over his food, quickly busying himself with finishing breakfast. “The um, the reservation is at 7 PM. At Chouchou's, the tempura place by your school. Does that suit your schedule?” Rei has had Makoto's schedule memorized since he first registered for classes, so this question is inane to say the least. But Makoto just tells him that 7 PM is fine.

 

“Great! I'm looking forward to it. It's been a while since we've had time to go out. I've been so busy with exams, and I know you're writing your midterm paper, so it's understandable, of course, but I...miss you.” Rei picks up Makoto's hand, bends back his fingers, and gulps.

 

Makoto doesn't know what's making him so nervous—he assumes that there's something about the dinner, but that could be wrong. Did he have an exam today, or a project due soon? Does he have a shift with the co-worker who thinks that evolution doesn't exist and won't stop trying to talk about it? Makoto wants to ask, but before he can, Rei bolts up, eating his rice while standing and completely forgetting about his soup. “I have to um, I have to go! See you later! Have a good day!” He kisses Makoto with rice stuck to his lips, and then dashes out the door. His coat still hanging in the closet.

 

“Rei!!” Makoto grabs the coat and heads out the door, but Rei is already gone, so thoroughly gone that it seems like an abduction. How is he not downstairs, or headed downstairs? How is he not on the block outside the building? He couldn't possibly have gotten on the bus already, could he? “Reii!!” he yells. There's no reply, no sign of his boyfriend. Makoto is standing there awkwardly holding a purple down jacket spattered with painted gold butterflies, flailing his arms in the hopes that the motion will get Rei's attention. But Rei isn't here to have his attention got, so Makoto, who didn't bring his own coat, puts Rei's on and trudges back upstairs to their apartment.

 

It's freezing outside, which makes not having a coat an extremely bad thing. Not only will Makoto get an earful from Haru if Rei shows up to meet him without a coat, but Rei will be cold. He might end up buying another coat because he doesn't have time to go home again, which could mean spending a lot of money that they don't have. Maybe _an earful_ isn't the best way to describe what Haru will give Makoto. Haru will send him disapproving yet vague texts, and look at him disdainfully and silently the next time they see each other.

 

None of this is what's most important. What's most important is that Rei doesn't get hypothermia. An image pops into Makoto's head of Rei standing at the bus stop, hunched and shivering, with arctic winds swirling around him, his cheeks red and his lips blue and his shoulders draped with snow. It's not snowing so this isn't likely, but the idea makes Makoto groan and sigh all the same. He has to get to his own class soon, he doesn't have time to deliver the coat, and he can't even remember whether Rei going first to school or work.  
  
He'll just have to hope that Rei has sense enough to turn back for it. It makes no sense for Makoto to miss his own class when he has no idea where Rei even is. If he texts him to ask, Rei will insist that Makoto go to class. It's his English class, which Makoto is only passing thanks to dreary, meandering study sessions with Rei that usually end with Makoto laying blissed out on the kitchen table with his shirt off and Rei kissing down the ridge of his collarbones. Since Rei is frequently the one to cut the study part short, he'll take the blame for Makoto's failure, and he won't accept Makoto skipping class for any reason, _especially_ not if that reason is helping Rei.  
  
But the image of Rei shivering at the bus stop won't leave Makoto's head, and before he can stop himself he's sliding his arms into his own winter coat, and heading out the door again, with none of his school supplies and no intention of getting to his class on time or at all. He bares his face to the frigid winds, wincing as his cheeks sting and redden. The cold air justifies the choice he's making, feeling it makes him feel less stupid and more like the loving boyfriend he's trying to be.  
  
When he gets to the bus stop his phone buzzes in his pocket. After nearly dropping his phone when he tries to hold it in his bulky mittens, he sees that he has another message from Haru.

 

_UnderwaterNinja: Ask Rei to switch tonight to a different restaurant. The tempura place isn't very good. It doesn't have mackerel._

 

_six kittens later: it's where we had our first date after he moved to tokyo...we've been going there for ages. are you coming??_

 

He hadn't expected Haru to be there. Not that he minds—he finds Haru endearing if a little confusing, and he's totally happy to share a meal with him, even if he was expecting something more intimate.

 

_UnderwaterNinja: No, I just don't like it. You guys can do what you want._

 

 _six kittens later: ok, thanks for your concern. i wasn't thinking about getting mackerel so i should be okay._ He switches screens and shoots Rei a message, _where are you right now? are you heading to school or to work? i forget what you told me._

 

The bus winds its way through a neighborhood of dead trees and housewives pushing well-wrapped toddlers for several stops before Rei replies. When he does it's just as frantic as he'd sounded this morning, _WHY DO YOU ASK??_

 

_six kittens later: you forgot your coat at home so i'm bringing it to you_

 

_Sparkling Sapphire Butterfly Future Accountant: No need!!! Please don't!! You won't be able to find me if you try, so please just go to school and I'll see you at 7!!_

 

_six kittens later: thats a lot of exclamation points. are you okay?also won't you be cold?i dont want you getting sick._

 

_Sparkling Sapphire Butterfly Future Accountant: Makoto, you do know what germ theory is, don't you? You have to understand this, it's going to be on your next Biology exam. Do you need another study session?_

 

_six kittens later: no thanks i just want to bring you your coat_

 

_Sparkling Sapphire Butterfly Future Accountant: Well, you can't. I'm very busy today and I don't have time._

 

_six kittens later: you dont need time you just need to tell me where you'll be in the next 20 minutes so i can hand you your coat and then leave._

 

_come on, please tell me? you're going to be cold and miserable all day._

 

_Sparkling Sapphire Butterfly Future Accountant: THRE IS NO TIME_

 

Makoto sighs, slips his phone back in his pocket. It's his stop, so he'll have to deal with this later. Rei is either at school or working at the tea shop six blocks from his school. If he's at school, finding him will be basically impossible. They don't go to the same school, and Makoto can't get in without getting a guest pass, which can take up to twenty minutes on a good day. Then, he'll have to basically wander around campus aimlessly trying to guess where Rei's class is. If Rei would just _tell him_ this would be infinitely easier, but since that's clearly not happening...he'll try the tea shop first.

 

The wind bites at Makoto's ears, prompting him to wrap his scarf around his whole head. He can't figure out how to make it stay put, so he has to readjust it three times before he makes it across the desolate street. Rain is starting to fall, which means opening a cheap, slightly torn umbrella that will probably be torn apart by the wind. His destination, the tea shop, is cheerfully lit, looking so pleasantly warm that Makoto doesn't want to open the door and let the cold air in. He does it anyway, sniffling and rubbing at his bright red face. Rei is nowhere to be seen, but Nagisa, who works there part-time, is at the register ringing up some loose tea. “Mako-chan!!” he shouts over the customer's shoulder. “You came to visit me!!”

 

“Um, yes, it's great to see you Nagisa, but I actually came here to deliver something to Rei.” Makoto rubs the back of his neck and grins sheepishly.

 

“Hmmm?” says Nagisa, peering so far over the customer's shoulder that he almost touches her. She backs off, glares at him, and leaves with her purchase. Makoto sighs, and holds the door open for her. Nagisa says, “Rei-chan's not working today” then rubs his chin in an exaggerated gesture of thought. “What does Mako-chan want with him?”

 

“He left his coat at home...he's being really cryptic and weird and refusing to tell me where he is, though.”

 

“I wonder why that could be....” says Nagisa, flattening his arms on the counter. “This is a mystery of epic proportions. If he's not where he told you he'd be, he could be _anywhere_. Possibly off fighting space zombies! He couldn't tell you because you'd be scared of the zombies and worried he'd get hurt, but he has to fight them, because he was the only one who had the power to save the planet from their wrath!!” Makoto laughs nervously, trying not to be scared of what's clearly a joke. “No but really Mako-chan, I don't know what's going on. He really left his coat at home? It's not like him to forget that kind of thing...”

 

“I know. He just ran out the door in a panic for no reason, and now he won't tell me where he is. Something's definitely going on. I'm guessing Haru knows about it since he's supposed to meet Haru...” At that, Nagisa's face splits open in a grin, and he cackles. His shoulders waggling like wings, and his teeth showing up to the gums. “Do you know something?” asks Makoto. “You look like you know something.”

 

“Nooooo, I don't know anything. Want to buy some tea? You can use my discount!”

 

This is obviously a distraction technique, but Makoto is freezing and really does want a cup of tea, so he surprises Nagisa by taking him up on his offer. While Nagisa is making the cup of vanilla oolong, Makoto checks his phone and sees another message from Haru.

 

_UnderwaterNinja: How much do you care about the ethics of diamond mining?_

 

_Also, how much do you care about Western symbolism?_

 

_Would you base a major life decision off your feelings on either of these subjects?_

 

Makoto's eyes widen. There's only one thing that Makoto knows that diamonds are used for are wedding rings. Is that why Rei's been acting so sneaky and bizarre? His heart leaps up into his chest and his eyes water, for a second he's so swarmed with bliss that he forgets to take out the money to pay for his tea. Rei wants to marry him? After their awkward and confusing morning, the idea that his boyfriend does indeed love him warms his brain like a blanket. He smiles and types back,

 

_six kittens later: i dont love what i've heard about diamond mining but i wouldn't base a life choice on that opinion._

 

_UnderwaterNinja: Okay._

 

_What's your favorite kind of flower?_

 

 _six kittens later: um...i like lillies?_ He puts his phone down, fighting the temptation to ask _why?_ Haru is making this far more obvious than he probably means to, and Makoto doesn't want to put him in a position where he'll have to reveal even more. He sighs, a dreamy smile spreading onto his face. Rei wants to marry him. They'll have their wedding in the springtime, when it's warm, and Ran will be the flower girl even though she's already too old to be a flower girl. They'll exchange their vows under a glassy black starlit sky, Their lips will meet in front of—

 

“Mako-chan!” Nagisa pushes the cup of tea in front of him. “Pay up, buddy!”

 

“Ahh! I'm sorry Nagisa, I zoned out...” he takes out his credit card and hands it to his friend. “I got this text from Haru—maybe I'm getting ahead of myself, but I think it might mean...well, can you take a look at it?” He hands off his phone, and Nagisa peers at it, face pinched.

 

“ _Ohhhh my god_. Mako-chan, it's _obvious_ what this means, but I can't _tell you_ unless you know already, because I don't think Rei-chan would want me to...um...you already do know what it means don't you?”

 

“I'm pretty sure it means that Rei is planning on proposing to me tonight. We're meeting at a restaurant at 7 PM, so that's probably when he's going to do it.”

 

“Are you going to say yes?” Nagisa leans forward, face smashed into a cradle of his fingers. “You guys are so cute together. I always wanted Rei-chan to be with somebody as nice as you are. He can be kind of naïve sometimes, so I'm happy to see him with someone who won't take advantage of that. And you could use a husband who can do your taxes, right?” Nagisa laughs nervously, shifting his weight onto his left elbow. “I think you should say yes. I mean, it's totally up to you, I'm not trying to force you or anything, but I think Rei-chan would make a really great husband. I'd say yes if I were you.”

 

“I have every intention of saying yes!” Makoto laughs, takes a sip of his steamy tea. “I'm just worried now because I have no idea where he is, and even if I could figure it out I wouldn't want to freak him out and interrupt his preparations...but I still want to give him his coat. I don't want him getting sick—I mean, he says he won't because _that's not how germs work_ , but I've seen people get sick because they were too cold before.” He sighs. “I guess it's not _that_ big a deal. I just don't want him to be uncomfortable, you know? I hope Haru dressed appropriately for the weather too. And you, Nagisa, did you bring a coat with you?”

 

Before that last sentence is fully out of Makoto's mouth, Nagisa starts snorting with laughter. “Mako-chan, you're such a _mom!_ Yes, don't worry, I brought a coat, and I'm _sure_ Haru-chan wore a coat too. Just forget about that for now, alright? You have to get ready for your date tonight!!” He bounces up, leans forward so his face is nearly pressed against Makoto's face, then backs off once he realizes he's much too close. “My shift ends in two hours—I'll help you once I'm off, okay? For now I gotta check in with that customer over there.” He angles his chin toward a disheveled looking man in a kimono and an oversized pea coat.

 

“Okay, I'll just hang out at one of the tables and do my homework while I'm waiting...” Makoto isn't sure what help he actually needs, but he's happy to have a warm place to do his work, and spend some time with Nagisa instead of letting his mind go off in all directions until 7. He sits down, plunks his tea down on an unoccupied table, and attempts to tackle some pre-calculus without Rei's help.  


~`~`~

 

After doing battle with several cantankerous customers—one of them seriously thought she was entitled to a full pound of free tea because she had a fistful of expired coupons, and one of them was enraged to discover that the decaffeinated black tea that they requested did not, in fact, contain caffeine—Nagisa bounces over to Makoto and claps his hands around his shoulders. “Ready to go?” he says.

 

“I'm not entirely clear on what we're doing...” says Makoto, laughing nervously and gathering his things.

 

“You need to look your best for the proposal, don't you?” His mouth curves up bananalike, and he says. “We need to get your nails done, you need a haircut, and you need a nice outfit. Something Rei-chan won't be able to resist.”

 

“Isn't he the one proposing to me? Why do I need to impress him when he's already planning to ask me?”

 

“Aww, Mako-chan, don't you want his jaw to drop? Don't you want him to be so blown away by how beautiful you are that he forgets what he was planning to say? Don't you want to watch him blushing and stammering and being totally frickin' adorable?”

 

 

“Well, now that you put it that way...” Makoto slides his arm into his coatsleaves, and hefts his bag onto his shoulders. “I do very much want to see those things.”

 

“Yaaaay! Let me just clock out and I'll take you to my favorite nail salon!”

 

~`~`~

 

The full makeover ends up costing more money than Makoto was prepared to pay. He gets his cuticles pushed down, his hands massaged, his nails filed and painted with green polish that Nagisa said matched his eyes. Despite his concerns that the employees would give him a hard time about being a man getting his nails done, no one comments and three people compliment the shape of his nail bed. The haircut leaves his hair a little shorter than he likes it to be, but the split ends are gone and it's clean. Because Makoto is seriously getting anxious about money at this point, he refuses to buy any new clothes.

 

“Mako-chan, you have to have _something_ Rei-chan hasn't seen before! Let's go to a thrift store or something. _I'm gonna pop some tags, only got $20 in my pocket~”_

 

“Please don't sing Macklemore at me, it takes all the dignity out of the situation. I don't even know what you're saying.” Makoto blushes at his minimal English skills, then reasons that he doesn't actually _need_ to understand what Macklemore has to say. “I don't have the money for a new outfit, and Rei knows it. He'll end up giving me a lecture about personal finances and it'll spoil the mood.”

 

“Yeah, Rei-chan probably would do that. Nerd. Anyway _fine_ , lets head back to your place and pick out something sexy!”

 

Makoto doesn't do _sexy_ , at least not sexy as Nagisa sees it. To Nagisa, sexy is dressing up like a half-naked cat person, or a half-naked _miko_ , or a half-naked Catholic nun—basically anything half-naked that isn't supposed to be that way. So, after threatening to cut Makoto's shirt in half to show his midriff, he finally gives up and picks out a dark green button-down shirt, a silky black tie that probably belongs to Rei, and some black slacks that they have to spend ten minutes ironing before they're fit to be worn.

 

“Should I wear my glasses?” asks Makoto, sliding them onto his face and then taking them off again.

 

“I don't know, do you like being able to see?” Makoto winces, embarrassed for having asked that question. Nagisa hugs him briefly, then says, “glasses, definitely glasses. You look super cute in glasses, and Rei-chan talks a lot about how you need to wear them more often. What kind of shoes are you wearing?”

 

“Um...are these oxfords okay? They're a little scuffed, but it's either that or my tennis shoes.” Nagisa approves the oxfords, and Makoto puts on the clothes, curling forward so that Nagisa can help him with the tie. “Rei always helps me with my ties,” Makoto says. “I ought to know how to do it by now, and I do, technically, I just can't make my hands do what my brain knows.”

 

“I learned how to do it after my dad called me into his room to impart the manly art of tie-tying to his one and only son. It was so solemn I couldn't stop laughing—especially since my sister Naoko wears ties all the time and I've only worn a tie like twice in my life.” He pulls it tight, then whirls Makoto around to look in his bedroom mirror. “Let's just get a little moisturizer on your face, and then you're good!” chirps Nagisa, taking a tube of jasmine scented lotion off of Rei's desk. He smooshes a generous glop onto Makoto's face, and declares him ready to be wooed.

 

~`~`~

 

Makoto arrives at the restaurant shivering and dingy with rain. His oxfords are soaked through, and his white dress socks are a mudstained gray. All his preparation seems pointless, and a nervous knot has corded in his throat. Rei, whose planning skills and attention to details far surpasses Makoto's, will probably show up looking flawless. He sighs, and asks the hostess whether Ryuugazaki Rei has arrived to claim their table.  
  
“Are you Tachibana Makoto?” asks the hostess after consulting her appointment book. Makoto nods, and she bows in response, her thick bobbed hair curtaining her roseacea-spattered cheeks. “Right this way, please. Ryuugazaki-san has reserved a private room for the two of you.”

 

Makoto's eyebrows shoot upward, and he follows the hostess mutely into a room tucked into the back of the restaurant. Rei and Makoto have been to Chouchou's a number of times for their lunch special, because of its convenient location near Makoto's school, but they've never gone into the back room, and up until now Makoto wasn't even aware that a back room existed, and he's trying not to think about how much this kind of reseveration costs. The hostess bows, and leaves him alone in an airy room with lacquered windows and clean tatami mats. Sitting in the center of the room is Rei, stiff-backed in a kimono that doesn't look warm enough for the weather. Makoto is relieved to see a blue _haori_ draped over Rei's chair—if he's been wearing that up until now, he hasn't been freezing. Rei flashes Makoto a nervous smile. “You made it,” he says. “You're all wet...”

 

“Yeah,” says Makoto, sitting down at the sleek black table. Rei frowns, and says he'll ask the waitress for a towel.

 

The waitress, a middle-aged woman in a cloud-patterned kimono, swiftly arrives to take their order, which is a plate of assorted tempura vegetables and shrimp, plus a pot of jasmine tea. “I'm sorry for giving you such a hard time about your coat. I was just worried about you, that's all.”

 

Rei's face flushes, and he clutches at the back of his neck. “It's fine. I'm sorry I was so snippy and vague with you. Like I said, today was...well, hectic is putting it lightly. I had so much to...well, I'm not going to get into it now. You'll see later. Right now I just want to look at you. Has anyone ever told you that you have beautifully shaped lips?” Now it's Makoto's turn to blush. “Really, they're lovely! They look like peacock feathers...only not blue, and not really shaped like that, actually not like peacock feathers at all. I was just thinking that they were beautiful and then I thought of another beautiful thing, and normally I'd have something more _poetic_ to say but I'm just...” He grabs Makoto's hands, strokes the bird-egg bumps of his knuckles. “Sorry. I'm nervous. Again. You'll see why.”

 

Of course, Makoto already knows why, but he's not about to ruin the surprise. Their food arrives bright and steaming, each battered vegetable like a spring or autumn leaf. Rei plucks a piece of sweet potato from the plate with a pair of red chopsticks, and guides it toward Makoto's mouth. The batter skids on his lip, then lands awkwardly on teeth that don't move quickly enough, but the food goes in and Makoto smiles at the gesture. He picks up a piece of asparagus and pokes it through Rei's mouth. After that, they eat normally, feeding themselves and talking about the play Makoto's brother is going to be in. “They're doing Romeo and Juliet and he's going to be Juliet! Isn't that awesome? You'll come to the performance, right?”

 

Before Rei can answer, the door slides open, revealing a bedraggled, wet-haired Haru. He's carrying and armload of flowers, which he dumps on the side of the table. The package is so full that rain-soaked petals are spilling out onto the floor. “Sorry I'm late,” Haru says, shucking off his jacket and draping it across a nearby chair. He dries his hair with the damp towel Makoto discarded, then looks up from it and says, “oh...Makoto's already here. That's awkward.”

 

“It's okay!!” says Rei. “Thank you so much for helping me out today, you really went out of your way for me. I can't believe I left so much of the planning until...” His face goes pale, and he stares at Makoto, who isn't supposed to know that there was anything to be planned for.

 

Makoto smiles, hoping his expression looks warm and nonjudgmental. Rei has been extremely busy with school and work—recently he's had to take on more hours to make up for Makoto being out of work. If the planning wasn't as thorough as it could have been, that's fine. What counts is the effort, the obvious love. Rei, now red-faced and breathing heavily, isn't going to see it that way. Nothing's actually going wrong, but “Are you okay?” seems like an appropriate question. As does, “can I see the flowers? They look beautiful. Are they for me?”

 

Rei sniffles, wipes a wrist at teary eyes. “Are you crying?” asks Makoto, reaching over to thumb a tear from his cheek. “Rei, honey, there's no reason to cry. I know you have something planned for tonight, you already told me as much. Even if I know that in advance that won't make it any less special.” Rei's shoulders jerk and his head pitches forward. Makoto is about to be seriously concerned but then instead of hearing the expected sobs, he hears a loud, wet sneeze. Then another, and another, and when Rei raises his head he's sniffling rapidly. “Are you okay?” Makoto asks, leaning forward. “I knew you'd get sick from going out without your coat...”

 

“I'm not crying and I'm not sick.” He turns away from Makoto to blow his nose into a napkin. “I'm just sneezing.” Another sneeze, this time caught by the napkin. He shoves his glasses forcefully up the bridge of his nose. “Anyway, let's...Haru, please stop _looming_ like that, sit down!” Haru has been hovering over Rei, pointedly not looking at him, but at Rei's request he plops into a nearby chair. Makoto hadn't expected him to stay after delivering the flowers, but he isn't about to kick him back out into the rain. Instead of asking him anything, he passes him the plate of vegetable tempura and tells him to take as much as he wants.  
  
Rei sighs, and starts unwrapping the bundle of flowers. “I'm sorry about that embarrassing interruption,” he says. “Makoto, I want to show you something. Do you know anything about the language of flowers?”

 

“No,” he says, not entirely truthfully. Makoto doesn't know the details, but he does remember his mother being embarrassed when his father gave her cactus flowers on their anniversary. Flowers represent a code he doesn't know how to read and rarely sees written, but he's guessing Rei has committed the language to memory. Rei grins, clearly pleased to be able to tell Makoto something he doesn't yet know. Rei takes out the flowers, which turn out to be six separate bouquets, and arranges them in a semi-circle around Makoto's part of the table. “Each variety of flower has a specific message,” he says. “Each symbolizes a particular emotion, and I've selected the ones that best reflect my feelings for you. It was quite difficult to locate all the different flowers, but with Haru's help I managed.” He sniffles again, runs a curled finger under his nose. “Since you're not familiar with the symbols, I'd be happy to walk you through it.”

 

 

He points to a bouquet of purple hydrangeas, folds back the paper so that Makoto can see each flower. “Hydrangeas mean _pride_. Makoto, I'm _so_ proud of you. You're doing beautifully in school. You're having some challenges with math and science, but you're meeting those challenges with power and dignity. You lost your job and you weren't discouraged at all, you just started applying for a new one right away. You always treat others with kindness and respect. I couldn't be prouder of who you are and who you're becoming.” Makoto grins, red heat creeping across his cheeks.

 

“These are zinnias,” he says, pointing to a group of orange flowers with bulbous yellow head. “They stand for loyalty. I swear full loyalty to you. I will never cheat, I will never do anything to sully the beauty of our love.” Makoto tries not to laugh. He can't imagine Rei cheating on him. If he ever did, he'd end up confessing within hours of the act. He fingers the soft petals, tries not to notice Rei's loud sniffling. Is he allergic to the flowers?

 

The next bouquet is full of pansies, which according to Rei stand for caring and thoughtfulness. “You are the most caring person I know. I know I get bristly about it sometimes, but I genuinely appreciate you worrying about things like whether or not I took my coat with me. I hope that I can be half as kind as you are.” He fusses with the next one, trying to unwrap the white paper hiding the blossoms. “I couldn't get you lilies like you wanted,” he says. “White lilies represent _chastity_ of all things, which is simply inaccurate...” Rei's goes red again, and Haru raises an eyebrow, then pops a shrimp into his mouth. “And orange lilies represent hatred and revenge, which is not the message I want to send.”

 

“It's okay, I just said lilies because they were the first flower that I thought of. Everything's great so far. Are you okay?” Is he free to ask this question now that Rei is praising his caring nature? Rei's eyes are leaking and swelling, and he's needing to dab at his nose every few seconds. Makoto wants to sweep the flowers out of the room and replace them with anti-histamines, but he knows it's best to let Rei finish unless he starts to die.

 

The fourth bouquet is revealed, and it's a bundle of tiger lilies. “I'm sure these aren't quite what you meant when you said lilies, but I like what they stand for. Tiger lilies mean wealth. I feel that our love is our greatest wealth.” Makoto blushes, stifles a nervous laugh. This is sweet, terribly sweet, but he wishes Haru weren't sitting there listening. These speeches always sound corny when they're not directed at you. Haru's face betrays nothing, and Rei keeps talking, sniffling between words. “This is also to say that I hope— _believe—_ that one day we'll have real, tangible wealth. We'll finish school and we'll get jobs we love and have enough to travel and live in a beautiful apartment and have pets and do everything else we want to do. So this flower has a two-fold meaning.”

 

“That's wonderful. I love that some of this is so concrete and specific. It really shows how much thought you put into it.” He says this instead of asking how much wealth these flowers, this room, this everything cost. Rei's chest puffs out, and he pushes his glasses, which have not actually been sliding down, up the slope of his nose.

 

“I'm glad you like it. I spent two weeks figuring out which flowers were most appropriate.” He taps the fifth bouquet with an arced finger. “These are irises. I chose them because they represent good news, which is something that I hope to be able to give you today.

 

Rei dabs at this nose with the napkin, then points to the next bouquet, which is a half-dozen red roses. “These represent love. Pure, unsubtle, embarrassing love. Makoto, I love—” The sentence is interrupted by a spine-snapping sneeze, then six more. The fifth results in Rei knocking the roses to the ground. “I'm sorry! I wasn't expecting this to be a problem. Well, I was, I got the point when I went into the flower shop, but I _illogically_ thought I'd be fine because our love is more important than my immune system throwing a temper tantrum.” He balls his fists, stares out the rain-streaked window. “Please don't take this metaphorically. The fact that my body is rejecting the flowers does _not_ mean that I'm rejecting what they symbolize.”

 

“That never would have even occurred to me,” says Makoto. It might have—he's not a literature minor for nothing—but Rei's sweaty sincerity is what's shines through for him. “Your immune system isn't your brain, okay?” He walks over to Rei's side of the table and drapes his arms around him. “Don't worry, I'd have probably messed up ten times worse than you did if I were trying to do this. I'd have made a sign that said _I LOVE YOU_ and spelled the word love wrong. Then I'd have probably cried.” He kisses Rei's damp cheek. “I love you too. I don't know how to say it in flowers but I love you.”

 

“Thank you. I love you too.” Rei wipes his eyes with a napkin, then wraps his arms around Makoto's neck. “So much. I'm sorry I'm expressing it like an idiot.”

 

“Not an idiot, just overwhelmed and nervous. Don't worry, I get like that too.” He pulls from the embrace, and gathers the flowers back into their original bundle. “I'm going to leave these with the hostess so we can get through the rest of the night without you sneezing yourself to death, okay? And I'm going to the drug store to get you some medicine.” Rei nods gratefully, and Makoto exits, leaving Haru and Rei to scrape together the last phase of their plan.

 

~`~`~

 

By the time Makoto returns, Rei has washed the flower's essence from his skin. His eyes are still glittering and raccoon-ringed, and he hasn't stopped sniffling, but the problem will end soon enough. Makoto hands him a blister pack of anti-histamines and a bottle of water. He swallows the pills, thanks him, and apologizes again for previous awkwardness. “It's completely fine,” says Makoto. Then he asks, “is there any tempura left?” hoping to get them back into amicable eating mode.

 

“No, but we can order more,” says Rei, clutching at the back of his neck. “I'm sorry, it's just it was going to get cold before you go back, and we were hungry. Let's...let's not talk about that for now. Food comes later, I promise, but I need to ask you something first.”

  
Makoto's heart wrings and twists in his chest, and then everything gets light and airy, little metaphorical butterflies swarming him, and of course, _of course_ they're butterflies, if he says yes to the question it's going to be butterflies for life. Excitement, but also a lot of confused crashing into things.

 

Rei gets down on one knee, spine creaking a little. Haru stares at him, then looks away, then looks back again. Makoto's phone pulses, likely with a text from Nagisa asking if it's happened yet. “Makoto,” Rei says, trying not to blink despite crawly red eyes. “I had a speech prepared. Actually, it was another poem. Unfortunately, my throat hurts and I'm tired and I don't remember most of the poem anymore, so I'm taking Haru's advice and opting for simplicity.”

 

“I hope you'll let me read both poems later,” says Makoto. Rei shrugs, a small smile pricking at his lips. Then he picks a small black box from inside his kimono sleeve, and opens it to display a ring. The thick gold band has a butterfly and an orca engraved on the side. The butterfly is filled with what looks like amethyst, while the orca is studded with emerald. Clearly, diamonds weren't ever in the cards. Would Rei have jettisoned this carefully planned and probably expensive ring if Makoto had said he wanted diamonds? He must have been saving up for at least a year to afford this, unless he went to Haru for help. Makoto sighs. “It's beautiful,” he says.

 

Rei nods. Likely, he doesn't need to be told. “Makoto,” he says. “The good news that I mentioned before is this. I love you, and I want to be with you for the rest of my life. Would you do me the honor of being my husband?”

 

Makoto's known this was going to happen the whole day, but it's a surge of warmth to hear the words. It takes a few seconds to work past the awed, choked feeling and force out the words. As he speaks a face-splitting smile creeps across his face. “Of course I will,” he says, fingers grazing the ring. Rei takes it out of the box and slides it onto its rightful post. With the sky still slathered in cloud, there's no light to catch the gold, but its lack of shine makes it no less lovely. Makoto twists his wrist to see the ring from every angle, then throws his arms around Rei's shoulders, pressing his face into his hair. “Yes,” he says again. “Yes, yes, yes.”

 

A flash goes off, Haru's camera documenting the process. “Congratulations,” he says.

 

After releasing Rei from his embrace, Makoto turns to Haru and smiles. “Thank you for helping to set this up” he says. “I'm sure Rei's already thanked you a million times, but I really appreciate it too. It must have been a lot of work.”

 

“It's nothing,” says Haru, staring at the rain still drumming on the windowpane. “Just pick a place that serves mackerel next time.”

 


End file.
